All about Triggers

Triggers (now called Basic Triggers) have been supported in DB2 for around 20 years but now in Db2 12 for z/OS support for Advanced Triggers has been added and the landscape has completely changed. Advanced Triggers provide many useful benefits, not least improved portability between DB2 for LUW and other database management systems, but crucially database operations that used to be very hard to achieve can now be easily accomplished. However, it’s vital for Application Designers, Developers and DBAs to understand the differences between the two types because a DML statement such as an INSERT or MERGE can produce completely different results depending on which type of Trigger is fired. This session will review Basic Triggers, what they can be used for and their limitations. We’ll then move onto covering the new Advanced Trigger capabilities added in Db2 12 for z/OS. We will highlight the differences between the two types and explain why those using Triggers need to be very aware of these changes even if they don’t code the actual Triggers themselves.